


Until I Reach Infinity

by Writinger



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Implied Relationship, Multi, Sadistic!Tsukasa, You Have Been Warned, this story does not have a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:42:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22390471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writinger/pseuds/Writinger
Summary: When under severe stress and mental strain, Senkuu falls back into old habits and counts until things are better.He's going to be counting for a long, long time.
Relationships: Ishigami Senkuu/Ogawa Yuzuriha/Ooki Taiju
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	Until I Reach Infinity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Luna_Moon22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Moon22/gifts).



_One... two... three... four... five..._

He had started counting the moment they took him.

He always counted when he was horribly stressed, and he only stopped counting when he and everyone else was safe.

Senkuu had gotten caught. He made a simple, _stupid_ mistake, and he had gotten caught.

They laughed at him as they dragged him away, yanking him forward with the crude rope that bound his wrists. Away from his science, his kingdom, his _friends_. 

Tsukasa had made it _very_ clear to the village: try to interfere, and Senkuu was as good as dead.

The thin cut on his neck from Tsukasa’s blade was proof enough of that. Senkuu could feel the blood drip beneath his collar.

_...three thousand six hundred and five, three thousand six hundred and six, three thousand six hundred and seven..._

_one hour_

They had thrown him in a crude but sturdy cell, and they left him there. They starved him and deprived him of sleep, and they made him _beg_ for water.

For the first day or so, every time he started to drift off, his body trying to give him some relief from his exhaustion, there they would be- shouting at him or making him answer pointless questions to the tune of being beaten otherwise to keep him awake. It didn’t take Senkuu long to start ignoring them. 

That’s when they started forcing him to do physical labor.

They took his shoes, and they laughed at his pain. 

Every wince and grimace had them mocking him, calling him _weak_ and _pathetic_ and _useless_. Every time he fell or stumbled, it earned him another injury, another bruise.

They made him work for _hours_. He worked until his skin was red and his hands had oozing blisters and his feet were numb and caked in blood. 

They liked to force him to do labor he never benefitted from. They forced him to prepare furs he could never sleep in, they forced him to plow fields he could never eat from, they forced him to carry water he could never drink.

They _taunted_ him with water, drinking it in front of him, asking if he wanted any. Every time he reached for it, they would pour it out, just out of his reach and smear it in the dirt.

He wasn’t even allowed to drink filthy, muddy water. It was too good for him, apparently.

_...one hundred and seventy-six thousand four hundred and eighty-six, one hundred and seventy-six thousand four hundred and eighty-seven, one hundred and seventy-six thousand four hundred and eighty-eight..._

_two days_

He broke down and did what they wanted after _two_ days of this treatment. 

He begged for some water. 

”Pathetic,” is what they said to him. _Pathetic._

_he was so tired_

_...six hundred and four thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, six hundred and four thousand eight hundred and twenty-four, six hundred and four thousand eight hundred and twenty-five..._

_one week_

They would go in his cell and ‘interrogate’ him. That’s what _they_ called it, anyway. 

Senkuu just called it torture. 

He was beaten down with physical blows and harsh words. It was always worse when Senkuu opened his mouth and gave voice to the snarky words on his tongue. 

He had never learned when to keep his mouth shut.

He was kind of regretting that, now, as a meaty fist connected with his abdomen and sucker-punched the air right out of him. It left him lying on the dusty floor of his cell, gasping for breath as someone laughed at his pain.

They always laughed.

_They always laughed_.

_...one million two hundred and nine thousand seven hundred and ten, one million two hundred and nine thousand seven hundred and eleven, one million two hundred and nine thousand seven hundred and twelve..._

_two weeks_

He always got quiet when what little strength he had from food and water left him. He never had the strength to fight back for long.

They only ever gave him enough to keep him alive. Nothing more. Could it even be any less?

They were always trying to break his spirit, with fists that bruised skin and cracked bones, with words as sharp as daggers meant to slice his soul to pieces, with exhaustion and malnourishment and forced labor draining his body of every drop of energy he had.

_...one million eight hundred and fourteen thousand four hundred and forty-eight, one million eight hundred and fourteen thousand four hundred and forty-nine, one million eight hundred and fourteen thousand four hundred and fifty..._

_three weeks_

It took him a while, and quite a few nasty punishments, but he finally learned to ‘keep his smart-mouth shut.’

It just wasn’t worth it anymore.

_...two million four hundred and nineteen thousand two hundred and seventy-seven, two million four hundred and nineteen thousand two hundred and seventy-eight, two million four hundred and nineteen thousand two hundred and seventy-nine..._

_four weeks_

Senkuu wondered when they would tire of this. He wondered when they would tire of _him_. 

He wondered when the entertainment would become a liability.

_He wondered when such a thought had turned from fear to relief_

_...two million five hundred and five thousand six hundred and twenty, two million five hundred and five thousand six hundred and twenty-one, two million five hundred and five thousand six hundred and twenty-two..._

_four weeks, one day_

After a few weeks, they brought him out, bound only by his wrists by some of their less durable rope. They knew even on a good day, Senkuu couldn’t break out of his bonds.

They stripped him of everything except for his underwear and tied him to a pole with a front row view of what could only be described as an arena. 

Senkuu had idly wondered when the public humiliation and torture would start.

But they left him alone.

They left him alone in the blistering, sweltering sun all day, with no food or water or shade.

At least they didn’t make him work. He relished in that small luxury.

Senkuu easily ignored the jeers and cruel remarks of those that passed him and he paid no heed to their glaring eyes and sneering faces.

He tried to sleep, but it was difficult with the position he was in. There was enough give to the rope that he could stand comfortably (since when has Tsukasa ever let Senkuu be _comfortable?_ He decided not to question it and would take what he got.) but _only_ enough that he could _only_ stand or kneel. He couldn’t even sit.

He made it work. It wasn't ideal, but he made it work.

_...two million five hundred and ninety-two thousand one hundred and ninety-two, two million five hundred and ninety-two thousand one hundred and ninety-three, two million five hundred and ninety-two thousand one hundred and ninety-four..._

_four weeks, two days_

The next day, there was a bit of commotion down the hill from where Senkuu was tied.

One by one, they paraded by, acting as though they were the kings and queens of the world as they taunted him, threw insults at him and his beloved science, and spat at his feet.

Senkuu didn’t even react.

Then the big bad himself, along with his loyal dog, deigned to grace him with their presence. Tsukasa gave his ‘holier than thou’ speech that Senkuu had the unfortunate opportunity of hearing more than once.

Tsukasa tested the waters. His prisoner had gotten used to their rough treatment of him over his stay with them, and it was getting more... difficult to draw a suitable reaction from him.

Keeping Senkuu prisoner and trying to break him was as fun as it was _annoying_. On the one hand, Tsukasa’s toy was stubborn, and didn’t want to comply. Beating it into him that he had no _choice_ had been amusing for Tsukasa, and he had relished in what a fun and difficult subject Senkuu was. The more he fought against Tsukasa, the harder he tried at breaking the brat’s spirit.

It was none of that namby-pamby stuff he got with the sniveling fools who were beneath him, who did whatever he wanted them to do, whenever he wanted them to do it. Blind obedience was convenient, but not very exciting.

However, Tsukasa eventually grew frustrated with Senkuu’s defiance. He got angry, his new toy was quickly becoming tattered and battered with beatings and rough treatment, but it still refused to break. 

_How dare he refuse to break._

He baited Senkuu with words, roughed him up a bit when the typical jabs and insults and threats didn’t work.

Senkuu remained silent and Tsukasa frowned. Even in silence, Senkuu was being defiant. 

Tsukasa had _enough_. Time to _break_ that spirit. Time to snap it and shatter it and crush it into so many pieces there would be no hope of piecing it back together.

Tsukasa’s frown morphed into a smirk, he still had an ace up his sleeve. Rather, make that _two_ aces.

He had them bring out Taiju and Yuzuriha.

Senkuu looked up for the first time that day when he heard the two call his name. They shouted in desperation and relief, Senkuu’s own voice leaving him in a stunned whisper, “Taiju, Yuzuriha.”

Senkuu _moved_. He jerked forward in his restraints, wanting to meet them halfway but unable to move more than a few feet. It was ok though, because Taiju was just barreling towards Senkuu with Yuzuriha in his arms and soon they would be safe.

Senkuu smiled for the first time in a long while. He had forgotten what hope felt like.

Senkuu didn’t see Tsukasa signal someone off to the side, focused as he was on the two most important people in his life.

Just as Senkuu’s hope was starting to refill, it drained out of him when Taiju was shot in the knee with an arrow. He cried out and tumbled to the ground, losing his grip on Yuzuriha. They both rolled to a stop in the dirt.

Senkuu stared in shock as Yuzuriha sat up first, scrabbling to Taiju on her hands and knees. She rolled him over so she could get a look at his leg. 

He sat up too, sharing some words with her. Taiju braced himself as Yuzuriha removed the arrow with a sickening _squelch_.

Arrow gone and faces ashen, Taiju tried to lurch to his feet with his hands and good leg and Yuzuriha tried to support him.

Another ‘twang’ of a bowstring pierced the air and the arrow pierced Taiju’s other leg, right at the ankle.

He fell again, taking Yuzuriha down with him.

And suddenly Senkuu was yanking and yanking at his restraints, trying and failing to break them. His feet dug into the earth, trying to find purchase, the rope ripped up his skin, blood from the self-inflicted wounds dripped down his arms and splattered the dirt.

Someone was screaming.

Someone was screaming and he had to help them _he had to help them_

It took Senkuu a second to realize _he_ was the one screaming.

Another arrow, another cry of pain, more blood, more screaming.

More _laughter_.

With Taiju immobile, Yuzuriha was targeted next. She was shot in her knees too, keeping her from running away.

Through the pain, though, Taiju and Yuzuriha kept trying to crawl to Senkuu, as desperate as he was to reach each other.

Senkuu twisted and pulled and begged and pleaded to be let go, to make it stop, to _take him instead_ , but it was a wasted effort. His pleas fell on dismissive ears, the ropes held, the people laughed, and Taiju and Yuzuriha suffered.

He screamed himself hoarse, mutilated his wrists, tore up his feet, and ripped his shoulder out of its socket trying and trying and _trying_.

After it was over, Tsukasa came up to where Senkuu hung from what was left of his wrists like a limp fish, condescending pity in his eyes. “If only you had given up science when I told you too, Senkuu, then this whole mess could have been avoided. Their blood will forever be on your hands.”

Tsukasa left their bodies where Senkuu could see them. See, not reach, and he _left them there_. 

He just... left them there. 

Senkuu eyes glazed over and he couldn’t look away at what that monster had done to them.

Tears slipped slowly down his _(filthy, bruised, hollow)_ cheeks and joined the pool of bloody mud at his feet.

Their screams were in his ears.

Their broken bodies were in his eyes.

Their blood was on his hands.

_...two million six hundred and seventy-eight thousand four hundred, two million six hundred and seventy-eight thousand four hundred and one, two million six hundred and seventy-eight thousand four hundred and two..._

_four weeks, three days_

Before he had been taken, Senkuu taught Chrome how to make nitroglycerine. 

He didn’t think Chrome would ever really need it; it was just a precaution, another weapon in the young scientist’s arsenal.

Turns out, it was one of the best things Senkuu ever showed him how to do.

Chrome remembered what Senkuu taught him, and after their scout told the rescue team the state Senkuu, Taiju, and Yuzuriha were in, he stole what he needed from the empire to make the weapon.

_two dead, one comatose_

They staged a distraction and got the three out of there; one so he could heal, two so they could be laid to rest.

Once they were safe, Chrome and what was left of the Kingdom of Science watched the Empire of Might burn.

They made it back to the Kingdom of Science.

Taiju and Yuzuriha were buried.

.  
.  
.

And Senkuu kept counting.

_...two million six hundred and seventy-eight thousand four hundred and ninety-nine..._

_...five million three hundred and fifty-six thousand eight hundred and forty..._

_...sixteen million seventy thousand four hundred and twenty-five..._

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This series has made me do something I never though I would ever willingly do. _Math_.
> 
> Also, apparently, not having time to write means ‘putting off homework that’s due tomorrow so I can get this idea out of my head and onto a word document.’


End file.
